China to be guest of honour at Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne 2019

The Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne has invited China as Guest of Honour for its 2019 edition, taking place in Saint-Étienne, France 21 March - 22 April 2019. The Biennale invites China to provide a design Chinese panorama with a major exhibition for the 2019 edition.

As a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, Saint-Étienne invites four other City of Design (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan) and a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts (Hangzhou), to draw up a panorama for French and international visitors. The exhibition will explain the renewal of forms and Chinese design at the dawn of a new creation era.

Fan Zhe, a Chinese artist that contributes to the development of relations between France and China, will ensure the curating and the scenography of this exhibition.

Chinese design has long been associated to copy and lack of quality. Chinese Design, Present and future exhibition is committed to highlight changes and tendency from China in terms of design. Guest cities will present their specificities, between tradition and innovation to prove that China also have a major position in the international design landscape.

The exhibition is divided in three parts, with a panorama of actual Chinese design, so the visitor can understand differences between the two cultures thanks to design, a forward-looking part that considers the future of design through great issues such as mobility or smart cities.

Image: Fan Zhe, © Pierre Grasset